つまり (JLPT N3)

About つまり

つまり (or 詰(つ)まり) is a word in Japanese that is often used as an adverb. It takes a previous statement (said either by the speaker or by someone else) and summarizes it. This translates as 'in short', 'in other words', and similar expressions in English.

Fun Fact

つまり comes from verb 詰(つ)まる meaning to become 'packed', or 'condensed'. This means that the literal translation is of つまり is quite similar to its English interpretation.

あなたは昨日(きのう)一日(いちにち)中(じゅう)家(いえ)でゲームをして、家(いえ)の事(こと)は何(なに)もしなかったってことですね。つまり一日(いちにち)中(じゅう)ダラダラしていたという事(こと)ですね。

You are saying that you were at home playing video games without doing any chores yesterday. Condensed, you were being lazy. (In short)

Examples

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明日(あした)何時(なんじ)でも良(い)いんだって。詰(つ)まり、夜遅(よるおそ)くなっても良(い)いらしい。

They said anytime tomorrow is good. To sum up, it seems that even late at night is ok.

彼(かれ)はいつも約束(やくそく)を破(やぶ)る。詰(つ)まり、私(わたし)のこと好(す)きじゃないよね。

He's always breaking his promises to me. In other words it seems that he isn't fond of me, right?

この車(くるま)は電気(でんき)自動車(じどうしゃ)です。詰(つ)まり、ガソリンが要(い)らないです。

This is an electric car. In other words it doesn't need gasoline.

詰(つ)まりそれはどういうことですか？もっと簡単(かんたん)に説明(せつめい)してください。

To sum up, what do you mean? Please explain it in a more simple manner.

今(いま)は失業(しつぎょう)しています。詰(つ)まり、あまりお金(かね)がないということです。

He is unemployed now. In other words he doesn't have very much money.

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つまり – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (8 in total)

mrnoone

English:
in other words・in short
to sum up

Structure:
Phrase1 + つまり + Phrase2

Explanation:
[summarizing・rephrasing]

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Ambo100
Perhaps an easy way to remember this, would be to use this phonetic mnemonic:

ツマリ - つまり
サマリ - summary
entropyofchaos
I am not sure if its just me, but in this sentence the male voice sounds like he’s dropping the り sound in the word あまり or maybe saying あまよ. Is it just me, or an anyone else actually hear this?

今いまは失業しつぎょうしています。詰つまり、あまりお金かねがないということです。

I understand that sometimes native speakers will change sounds slightly. So I am just trying to confirm if its just me, or it actually isn’t said clearly.
Pablunpro
Hi!

The male voice does in fact say あまり. The fact that this is directly followed by お金 might be the reason that you hear it as a あまよ (あまりょ would be more approximate).

Try listening to this sentence at a slower speed using the gear at the top of the examples section!

HTH!
casual
All I hear is あまぃ, no r sound, or at least no japanese r sound. It’s especially obvious if you compare both recordings side by side. One could hypothesize about mic issues or any other possible causes for the wrong sound, but I don’t see how it can be interpreted as り or りょ.
entropyofchaos
I have and I just couldn’t hear it. I even tried using my phone to record the audio off my computer to play with the audio. But I just didn’t hear anything close to り.

I’m just curious, did you actually listen to the male voice. I can understand your guess as to what it might sound like. But I couldn’t hear anything near that.
entropyofchaos
I can see it sounding like あまぃ too. This was just bothering me so much. And yeah, the other voice was significantly clearer with that sound like you said.
Pablunpro
Hi! I did, and then switched to the female voice and then back to the male voice.

I’ve played the male voice once more and can here it, though not so clearly as the previous つまり.
entropyofchaos
I appreciate you taking the time to take a look.